Henry Saint John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, (born Sept. 16, 1678, probably Wiltshire, Eng.—died Dec. 12, 1751, Battersea, near London), prominent Tory politician in the reign of Queen Anne of England and, later, a major political propagandist in opposition to the Whig Party led by Sir Robert Walpole.

Early career.

He was possibly educated at a Dissenting academy rather than at Eton and the University of Oxford, as has been claimed. In 1698–99 he traveled in Europe and in 1700 married Frances Winchcombe. In 1701 he entered Parliament, where he soon won a reputation by his superb oratory and his support of partisan Tory measures, including attacks on the previous Whig ministry and on the Protestant Dissenters, the Whigs’ staunchest allies. His conduct soon brought him to the notice of the government, and, after he was made secretary at war (1704), he was converted, temporarily, to the moderate policies of Robert Harley, one of Queen Anne’s principal ministers. For four years he worked hard to provide the Duke of Marlborough with troops and equipment for the War of the Spanish Succession against France and then resigned with Harley (February 1708) when they failed to prevent the Whigs from dictating government policy. Failing to gain a seat in the 1708–10 Parliament, he urged Harley to ally with the Tory Party as the best means to defeat the Whigs.

In 1710 St. John became northern secretary of state in Harley’s new ministry, but he soon emerged as an opponent of Harley’s moderation and a rival to his authority. His efforts to control the government’s policies and to supplant Harley (after 1711 the earl of Oxford) were largely unsuccessful. Oxford had initiated secret peace negotiations with France, but, even after he had learned of these and had forced his way into the discussions, St. John (after 1712 Viscount Bolingbroke) was not able to dictate the terms that were finally settled at the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). In Parliament, Bolingbroke was no more successful in leading a Tory rebellion against Oxford. He won over some Tories by such partisan measures as the Schism Act (1714), which aimed at depriving the Dissenters of their schools, but he failed to persuade the majority to support his leadership and was unable to give the Tories a clear lead on the disputed succession to Queen Anne. Oxford was eventually dismissed on July 27, 1714, but the Queen’s death, on August 1, ruined Bolingbroke’s hopes of replacing him.

Exile in France.

Dismissed from office by George I and fearing impeachment because of his role in the peace negotiations with France and his intrigues with the Jacobites (the supporters of James Edward, the Old Pretender), Bolingbroke fled to France (March 1715) and became the Old Pretender’s secretary of state in July. This enabled the British government to pass an act of attainder against him by which his property and civil liberties were taken away. As a result, Bolingbroke’s political future depended upon a successful Jacobite rebellion. Despite Bolingbroke’s hard work, the attempted Jacobite rising in 1715 was a dismal failure. Amidst bitter recriminations, Bolingbroke was dismissed by the Old Pretender and at once sought to ingratiate himself with the Whig government in England. In 1717 he wrote a Letter to Sir William Wyndham (not published until 1753) to defend his actions since 1710 and to persuade the Tories to abandon the Jacobite cause. Not surprisingly, he found it difficult to persuade men to forget his recent conduct.

Forced to remain in exile, Bolingbroke sought other outlets for his talents. Mixing with aristocrats and scholars, including Voltaire, he embarked on biblical, historical, and philosophical studies and wrote several works, including Reflections upon Exile and Reflections Concerning Innate Moral Principles. Shortly after the death of his first wife, he married a French widow, the Marquise de Villette (1719).

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